Sweden - Focus on "netdrugs", classification process to be speed up

[bob_arctor]

The net drug "spice" might be made illegal
16 march 2009

The herbal blends Spice have as of yet been totally legal in Sweden. They have long been a mystery to the authorities, but now a common cause has been found. A synthetic substance in which the herbs are dipped into gives the cannabis-like high. The new information is a first step against a ban.

When the chemists have analysed the herbal blends that the police and the custom have taken into custody, different substances have been present at different times

- There has been no common thing to bind all together so we have long been confounded, says Steve Alm, strategical analyst at the national criminal police to SvD.se

Recently a breakthrough was made though. Experts have discovered that the herbal blends contain a synthetic cannabinoid, a substance which is added to give a cannabis-like effect.

People have been dipping, sprayed or grinded a synthetic substance to the herbal blends.

- There is information that Spice is coming from Iran. It has been on sale as a natural and harmless substance, says Steve Alm.

But the active substance can be likened to the one in cannabis, and could lead to the user becoming blunt, prone to memory loss and also psychosis.

The drug expert of the customs office says that the authority doesn't do anything about mapping the import of the drug, since it isn't illegal.

- I can say that there are large amounts of spice arriving into this country every day. Fellow customs officers in the field sees them arriving through the postal system. Each week I get reports from amongst others, schools, that the drug is prevalent and they are wondering what it is.

Lars Hansson says that the ones who order Spice on the net are "playing russian roulette" because they have no idea what the blend contains.

This monday SvD.se told about the netdrug mephedrone which is responsible for the death of an 18-year old woman's life. The drug has been available in sweden for a year but first this summer 2009 it will be classified as a illegal narcotic

The inquiry about the drug has taken long time and the investigator at Institute of Public Health says that they haven't had enough on their feet to act until now. Joakim Strandberg, investigator at the Institute of Public Health, says that now a first step towards a ban on spice has been taken.

- We are gathering data now and hope for a classification as soon as possible, he says.

When this happens it might be classified as a narcotic or classified as a "substance dangerous to a persons health" (hälsofarlig vara)
Source: http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_2604205.svd
16 mars 2009, 19.01 Author: Negra Efendic


bob_arctor added 15 Minutes and 12 Seconds later...


Girl in life-threatening condition caused by new net-drug
2008-12-13

An 18 year old girl in Bandhagen, southern Stockholm, suffered serious injuries caused by a new net-drug, mephedrone

The girl and three boys, also in their 18-teens, took the new drug combined with marijuana. The girl sank deeper and deeper into unconsciousness and stopped breathing.

We recieved an a alarm that the girl had taken an overdose of the drug mephedrone
- Vi fick larm om att flickan hade tagit en överdos av drogen mefedron, which as until now is not a narcotic but legal.

- She and the other three boys had taken mephedrone and also smoked marjiuana-cigarettes, says Ove Svantesson, in charge of the police station in söderort in Stockholm, to DN.se

The girl got acutely sick, sank deeper in unconsciousness and stopped breathing.

The boys called an ambulance but started doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the girl immediately themselves.

When the police showed up 04 saturyday morning an ambulance hade taken the girl to the Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge.

Saturday afternoon found the girl still suffering life-threatening damages, a spokes mann of the hospital told dn.se

According to the web page drugsnews.nu - a site run by the temperance movement IOGT-NTO and the National League for a Narcotic Free Society (RNS) and the group RASP - mephedrone is a new, not yet classified as narcotic netdrug which often is consumed nasally or orally and it is spreading among youths in Sweden.

The police in Norrköping recently seized a large amount of mephedrone, which is also called "crab" and several persons were arrested.

In a house search police found over 200 doses of the centrally stimulating synthetic drug. The police arrested several persons under the suspicion of possessing narcotics and smuggling.

Since the drug Phenazepam was classified as a narcotic september [2008] internet trade and abuse of mephedrone has become more common in some circles. Mephedrone was first identified in a criminal-technical lab in february writes drugsnews.nu

The police wants, according to the site, classify mephedrone as narcotics because it has bieffects such as dizziness, psychosis and unconsciousness. In Denmark the drug has cost one young man his life according to danish TV2, and also from Åland reports this autumn has indicicated an increased usage of mephedrone according to the web page.
Source: http://www.dn.se/sthlm/flicka-livshotande-skadad-av-ny-nat-drog-1.474100
Author: Gunnar Sörbring
Published 2008-12-13 13:35

Mephedrone and friends has gotten some high profile media attention those last weeks, with a series of articles about first the "new"(!) amphetamine type drug methamphetamine. Of course it has been a long for a long time but apparently the amounts seized by customs are increasing in a non-linear fashion.

Also jwh-018 (in the case of spice i suppose) has been in the news. As seen from news clippings since spring/summer 2008 police have been hard determined to get it classified, but in this article the police at the Statens Kriminalteniska Laboratorium (State criminal-technical lab) have finally heard about the analysis done by labs on the continent it seems.

[Alfa]

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[enquirewithin]

Why should spice be coming from Iran? There is lack of detail about this death, or confirmation that mepehdrone was actually involved.

[nibble]

Originally Posted by enquirewithin

Why should spice be coming from Iran? There is lack of detail about this death, or confirmation that mepehdrone was actually involved.

Spice does not come from Iran to my knowledge, the general consensus is Chinese based manufacture with European and US based distribution.

[Alfa]

Originally Posted by nibble

Spice does not come from Iran to my knowledge, the general consensus is Chinese based manufacture with European and US based distribution.

AFAIK the psychedeli do not allow spice in the USA. With CP 47.497 being structurally related to THC, it would be dumb if they would distribute there. What do you mean by US based distribution?

[nibble]

Originally Posted by Alfa

AFAIK the psychedeli do not allow spice in the USA. With CP 47.497 being structurally related to THC, it would be dumb if they would distribute there. What do you mean by US based distribution?

Not the psychedeli's products but rather some other blends such as chillinXXX were openly distributed in the USA to my knowledge.. I shouldn't have said spice but rather smoking blends in general.